Shadow's Waltz
by Chirichi916
Summary: For three years now he'd been working for the Preventers in place of the man he'd loved since they were 15. He'd never told him. Now it was too late.
1. Prologue

Standard disclaimers apply  
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He still remembered that day.  
_It should have been raining.  
It was sunny, warm, perfect._

He'd been in the living room listening to music while he painted. He forgot now what the picture had been, or rather, what it was going to be. He'd never finished it.

There'd been a knock at the door, he'd gone to answer it. Une stood in her preventers uniform, her boots polished, her hair pulled back tightly into a functional bun, a small box tucked under her arm, her eyes, behind her glasses, so full of pain.

He didn't invite her in. She didn't ask to be invited in. She'd just started to talk. Meaningless phrases like "line of duty", "a true soldier", "valiant". It was all bullshit.  
_She should have cried.  
So should he._

He'd taken the box from her, when she finally stopped spewing noise. She'd given him a shaky nod, then turned on her heel and returned to her waiting car.  
He'd taken the box inside.  
"His personal belongings from his office" Une had said.

Neither of them had ever really gotten into collecting "things". There wasn't much in the box. Just a silly paperweight Relena had gotten him for Christmas one year, a few books, and a picture of the two of them sitting on the front steps of this house just after they'd finished moving in. Quatre had taken it.

He'd stared at it for a long time.  
_His hands should have shook.  
They were steady._

He didn't attend the funeral. Something Wufei had never forgiven him for. It would only have been more bullshit. "Line of duty", "a true soldier", "valiant", cheap, meaningless words, they meant nothing. They were just wasted air.

Instead, he'd been waiting for Une in her office when she returned from the burial. She'd been annoyed that he'd broken into her office, but she hadn't seemed entirely surprised to see him.

For three years now, he'd been working for the preventers in place of the man he'd loved since they were 15. He'd never told him.

For three years now, he'd been living as the demon he'd thought he'd sealed away after the war had ended, almost two years prior.  
_It should have felt wrong to be killing again.  
He felt nothing._

For three years now, the Shinigami had stared out at the world through the window of an office marked:

_Heero Yuy._

* * *

_I know this was short. I'm working on the next chapter. Please be patient with me._


	2. Chapter 1

Standard disclaimers apply  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Duo's grin was feral as he dodged a kick aimed for his temple. Slouching out of the way as he tucked over and sent a foot whipping out at Wufei's legs.

"You've used that trick before." Wufei scoffed as he easily backpedaled away from the move.

"You keep falling for it." Duo baited

Wufei snarled and launched another attack. Duo rolled out of the way and back to his feet.

The American never blocked. It was something that bothered Wufei immensely, he either dodged the strike, or took the hit, but he never blocked. _He hasn't always fought that way? Has he?_ Wufei forced his mind back to the battle at hand.

Despite the fact the red sparring mats filled the room, Wufei knew they fought with an audience. They'd been sparring for a good ten minutes now, he could bet the windows lining the upper wall were filled with spectators. Their bi-weekly matches tended to draw a crowd, especially from the young preventers and new recruits. Still, the room was relatively soundproof and their constant movement made reading lips impossible, leaving them free to talk with relative privacy.

"You've got another mission." Wufei stated, a practiced hand easily deflecting the roundhouse Duo had aimed for his head.

"Yeah." Duo nodded, dancing back out of range of Wufei's counter-attack.

"You're going without a partner again." Wufei's brows knitted and he sent a particularly vicious side-kick into Duo's ribcage and sent him smashing against the thickly padded wall. But Duo recovered almost instantaneously, using the rebound off the wall to spring back at Wufei.

"I work alone." He said flatly, his foot flying at Wufei. The Chinese man brought up both arms to block the attack, but the force of Duo's foot hitting his crossed forearms sent him stumbling backwards. The agile fighter was rolling back to his feet even before he hit the ground.

Wufei's style was iconic among the rest of the preventers. Try as they might, none had ever attained the grace and fluidity of "_The Chinese Dragon_'s" fighting style. He moved with all the poise of a dancer, every shift of his weight, every twitch of a muscle appeared perfectly choreographed. But any preventer who'd stepped into the ring with the lithe fighter knew the power behind those precision movements.

But if Wufei was the embodiment of poise and power, his sparring partner was the wild fury of an untamed dog. The braided American possessed none of the self-contained dignity of his ebony haired friend, but had the unnerving ability to all but disappear and suddenly show up where you least expected him. And no preventer, with the exception of Wufei had ever sparred him more than once. He fought like a starving stray over a meat scrap. Fangs bared into a feral smile beneath dead eyes.

But regardless of how the man unnerved the rest of them, _Stray Dog Maxwell_ and his predecessor were the only two men to ever beat Wufei Chang in a sparring match.

"Will you pay your respects before you leave this time?" Wufei asked, his eyes narrowed, he still hadn't forgiven Duo for not attending Heero's funeral, and didn't intend to until the other man went to visit the grave.

"I'm not going to cry over an empty box." Duo snarled, shifting to take the offensive.

"It's been three years Duo. Heero's gone." Wufei growled, barely dodging the blunt of Duo's next attack. Although he'd managed to avoid having his face smashed, Duo's jaggedly chewed fingernail still managed to slice open a small cut across Wufei's face.

"Heero Yuy wouldn't let himself die like that." Duo's voice hissed from behind him.

_When and how had he gotten there!?_ Wufei started to turn, but knew already that it was too late.

Duo's leg connected with backs of his calves, sweeping his legs out from beneath him with enough force to flip him almost horizontal in the air. His onyx eyes stared at the fluorescent lighting hanging above him. Duo filled his vision, hard violet eyes meeting his own, the chestnut braid whipped around like a snake about to strike. Duo's hand clamped on Wufei's shoulder at the base of his neck and drove the other man to the mat.

The wind was knocked from Wufei with a sharp gasp.

Duo stood, panting, waiting with an extended hand for Wufei to regain his breath. After a few shallow breaths of his own, Wufei took the offered hand and let Duo haul him to his feet. Duo turned on his heel, braid whipping around behind him.

"He's gone Duo." Wufei called to his friends retreated back, "Let him go."

"He was never mine to 'let go' of, Fei." Duo threw back icily

Wufei stiffened "Duo…"

"See you when I get back Chang." Duo raised a hand in parting as he strode through the door.

"Damn you Yuy." Wufei remained rooted in place, head bowed, fists clenched beneath the merciless glare of the gymnasium style lighting. The crowd above was already mostly dispersed as their idol Agent Chang, _The Chinese Dragon_, fought alone to reign in his emotions. "Damn you Yuy." He hissed again, "Maxwell's as dead as you are." His fist slammed into the padded wall, leaving a dent that was slow to recover as he stalked from the room.

From above, Sally Po watched sadly, her forehead coming to rest against the glass with a heavy sigh. "Duo…" she whispered, "Wufei…"

* * *

A light blinked on his vid-com, the chestnut haired preventer gave his wet braid one more squeeze with a towel before dropping into the chair behind his desk and reaching over to open the link. Quatre's face blurred onto the screen.

"Duo." The blonde smiled

"Hey Quat." He returned the smile. Quatre tried to ignore the fact that it didn't reach his eyes – hadn't, in over three years. But Duo's mask was firmly in place, and no force in heaven or earth could remove it.

"It's been ages since we last talked. How are you?"

"I'm alright. Got Une kickin' me in the balls over a case right now, but it's nothin' I can't handle." He threw Quatre a cocky grin.

Quatre chuckled and shook his head,

"What is it this time? More smugglers?"

"Space pirates." Duo grinned

Quatre sighed

"When do you suppose you'll have a few free days? It's been a year at least since I last saw you."

Duo shook his head and sighed as he ran a calloused hand through chestnut bangs

"Sorry Quat. No can do. Like I said, I've got Une on my ass and half a day to get my shit together before I launch. Not sure how long…"

Quatre nodded

"It's okay, I'd just hoped…"

"Hey, I'll make it up to you one of these days alright." Duo smiled, it wasn't a lie. Not exactly. It was just that, well, someday never comes. He knew it, Quatre knew it too. But the blonde stubbornly refused to give up on their friendship. He was glad for it, in a way. But knowing Quatre, Wufei, hell even Trowa, still gave a damn, meant he had to keep fighting to stay alive.

They talked a few minutes more before ending the call. Duo sat with his elbows on the desk, forehead resting against his intertwined fingers. He sighed again, then stood, grabbed his coat and stalked out of the building.

He stepped onto his bike, the engine revved, then roared down the road. Duo's braid whipped behind him like an agitated snake.

* * *

He flew back to his building. Shut off the bike and made his way up to the studio apartment he now resided in. He'd turned the little country house Heero and he had shared for two years over to Quatre in favor of the tiny studio back in the city. He was a city kid at heart, felt more comfortable here amidst the chaos of urban life. The picturesque fixer-upper he and Heero had rebuilt held too many memories, and the country was just… too quiet; an empty silence that reflected too closely the void within his chest since Heero's... disappearance.

He'd come up with some lame excuse for Quatre to buy the house off him, something about hating to commute. Neither of them mentioned the fact that with the exception of missions and the occasional staff meeting, Heero had always worked from home.

* * *

Duo fiddled with his key inside the stiff lock, jiggling it just so to get the bolt to slide back and allow him entry into the tiny attic apartment. He stepped onto the mat, toeing off his boots with a hard jerk. He'd never used to remove his shoes. Leaving was more convenient if you didn't have to stop to put them back on. It was a habit Heero had forced him into, some weird Japanese custom, no shoes in the house. It didn't seem worth the effort to retrain himself now.

He slumped across the small room to the bamboo screen he used to partition off the corner his mattress lay in. He'd never gotten around to moving the frame from the house, just the mattress. Besides, after a lifetime of sleeping on the streets, even a mattress on the floor was pretty damn ritzy. The small closet hung open just past the foot of the bed, Duo pulled down his duffel bag and began stowing his clothes. He'd be taking his own ship. A Preventer issued fighter, camouflaged of course, as a civilian vessel; well stocked with weapons, food and other necessities courtesy of Une. All he really needed were his clothes, and Heero's gun.

He pulled the gun out of his top dresser drawer. His fingers wrapped around the familiar curve of the custom grip. It was probably due to the fact that he'd spent the first several years of his life on the brink of starvation, but he'd never really grown much, topping off at a mere 5'6". Even Wufei and Heero, with their asian heritage had reached 5'10" and 5'8" respectively. What really bothered him was the fact that Quatre was pushing 5'8". He always felt the delicate blonde should have stayed shorter than him. At nearly 6'5" Trowa towered over all of them. But the lanky circus performer had always been tall.

Still, he supposed, it was probably a good thing he had stayed small, it meant the gun Heero had carried at 15 still fit his hand like a glove.

It had been a Christmas gift the first year after the war. Neither of them had had money at the time, but Duo had desperately wanted to give something to his friend. He remembered Sister Helen telling him the price of a gift was measured in it's worth to the owner. And so, while they stood on the balcony outside Relena's Christmas party, listening to the cheery carols drifting out across the night, watching the falling snow, Duo had pressed his silver cross into Heero's hand.

"Merry Christmas Heero!" He'd smiled sheepishly then, scratching the back of his head, "Sorry, I didn't have the money to buy anything."

Heero's eyes had flown to his neck

"Duo this is…"

"But I wanted to give ya' a present anyway… ya' know," Duo rambled, cutting him off "'Cause you're my best friend an' all…An' I know it's just a cheap trinket, but I kinda like to think it's brought me luck, kept me alive an' stuff. But if you don't want it I'd understand…"

"No." Heero silenced him, "Thank you." He'd fastened the chain around his neck, the small charm caught the warm yellow light filtering out from inside and glistened - for a moment - like a falling star. Duo liked the way his cross looked, lying on Heero's chest, wishing for a foolish heartbeat, that he might do the same.

"Here." Heero said, his hand extended, he pressed the cold heavy weight of his gun into Duo's hands.

"But this is your _gun_?" Duo had stammered "I can't…"

"I'm giving it to you." Heero had said stiffly, before letting a small grin tug at the corner of his lips "I like to think it's brought me luck, kept me alive and stuff."

Duo jerked back to the present, tucked the gun into his belt, and continued his packing.

* * *

First real chapter. Hope it was worth it. :)


	3. Chapter 2 Home

Standard Disclaimers apply  
Also, "Home" belongs to Mr. Daughtry - not to me. (boo.)  
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Une's debriefing had been short and sweet.

They usually were.

Duo didn't have the patience for long lectures and they both knew it.

Duo slid into the cockpit to begin launch prep,

"_Tsubasa botsu"_ Heero had called it.

Duo had grinned, "Deathwing. I like it."

He flipped the ignition switches, giving the fighter a few minutes to warm up, letting his eyes roam over the interior of the cockpit as his memory wandered.

When he and Heero had learned that Heero would be given his own ship, they'd both instantly thrown themselves into modifying it. He smiled, remembering the nights they'd spent sprawled together on the living room floor, pouring over schematics and weaponry, then the weeks upon weeks they'd spent camouflaging their modifications to the ship.

"Hey baby, how you been?" Duo cheered as he reached beneath the console to flip a switch that would give the fighter's engines added power. He roared down the strip then shot upwards into orbit.

He flipped his com to the standard frequency, as far as transmissions to the Preventers went, for this mission he'd be running radio silence. Communications would be made at set intervals over e-mail coded to look like civilian letters.

It felt good, Duo decided, being out in space again. He enjoyed the freedom of zero gravity. The dark solitude of space.

It never failed to put things into perspective. The earth and her lunar companion, caught forever in gravity's endless waltz, just tiny specks of light in the grand scheme of things. The colonies even smaller, and he himself - less significant than a dust mote.

He grinned into the void, flipped randomly to a playlist and began to sing.

_I'm staring out into the night,__  
__Trying to hide the pain.__  
__I'm going to the place where love__  
__And feeling good don't ever cost a thing.__  
__And the pain you feel's a different kind of pain.__  
_

It would take him upwards of nine hours to reach the construction site at L5. He liked the solitude. Enjoyed the privacy, but lately, it gave him too much time to think. Too many memories flooded into his unguarded moments, threatening to drown him in unshed tears. Duo kicked out of his seat and floated down to his bunk, maybe he'd just sleep off this trip.

_  
__Well I'm going home,__  
__Back to the place where I belong,__  
__And where your love has always been enough for me.__  
__I'm not running from.__  
__No, I think you got me all wrong.__  
__I don't regret this life I chose for me.__  
__But these places and these faces are getting old,__  
__So I'm going home.__  
__Well I'm going home.__  
_

It'd been sunny the day he and Heero had stumbled across the 'farm house'. Just an advert in the Sunday paper, some kid selling off their grandparents' old farm for cheap. Duo had talked Heero into going to look at it. Neither of them was particularly fond of living at the palace with Relena, though the rent-free board had given them the opportunity to save up their money.

It had been a nice drive, Heero especially, had seemed to enjoy it. A dirt lane lined by ancient oaks, stretching back between acres of corn field. The house itself was an old square two story, with a large yard and several more towering oaks lent shade to the building. A sturdy looking barn stood empty just west of the driveway and a few grain bins sat like silver monoliths beside it.

A tall blonde woman stood in the front yard, conversing with a couple who looked to be only a year or two older than Heero and Duo. The girl, a short brunette wore her hair just above shoulder length in wild layers with red streaks scattered through, she turned when they pulled in, flashing them a smile. Like Heero, the girls face bore a distinctively Asian bone structure, and her golden hued skin almost matched that of his friends, but like Heero, where he would have expected dark eyes, hers were a vibrant green.

The man next to her was taller than he or Heero, probably pushing 5'11". Broad shouldered with short brown hair and hazel eyes. Duo found he couldn't place his ethnicity, central European maybe? He stood with an arm looped casually around the girl's waist, he'd been frowning slightly as they drove up. He was handsome, Duo decided, but in a subdued way. He wasn't the knock-out Heero was, but the smile he turned to greet them with was warm and open, it fit the honesty of his face.

"You must be Duo and Heero." The blonde woman said

"That's us." Duo had grinned

"I'm Rachel." She smiled, "and these are…"

"Adam." The man said extending a hand "and my girlfriend Rose."

"We're the neighbors!" Rose grinned, "Adam's fields connect to this one." She pointed to the cornfield that stretched east behind the house. "Adam's been working it for Rachel's family since Mr. Granger passed away."

"He's interested in buying the land," Rachel explained, "But not the house."

"That may work for us." Heero said, exchanging a glance with Duo, "We're not farmers. We wouldn't know what to do with 300 acres of field."

Duo hadn't paid much attention to the details after that, leaving Heero to work them out. Adam had seemed of a similar mind as they both found themselves out on the porch content to let Heero, Rose and Rachel to hash over the fine print.

_The miles are getting longer, it seems,__  
__The closer I get to you.__  
__I've not always been the best man or friend for you.__  
__But your love remains true.__  
__And I don't know why.__  
__You always seem to give me another try._

They'd spent the rest of the summer fixing up the place. It had stood vacant for nearly a year before Adam had approached Rachel about buying the land, prompting her to put the whole thing up for sale.

The second step on the front porch was broken, it was the first thing they'd fixed nailing down a board temporarily while they moved in furniture.

It was that same unpainted step Heero was sitting on in the picture Quatre had taken. The one from his desk. Duo reached into his duffel to pull it out.

_So I'm going home,__  
__Back to the place where I belong,__  
__And where your love has always been enough for me.__  
__I'm not running from.__  
__No, I think you got me all wrong.__  
__I don't regret this life I chose for me.__  
__But these places and these faces are getting old,_

Heero's skin, with just the barest sheen of sweat, glowing golden in the late afternoon sun, his shirt unbuttoned to reveal washboard abs and a perfectly sculpted chest as he sat sideways on the step, leaning back against the railing. His impossibly blue eyes flashing beneath the fall of dark bangs. Duo sat on the step above him, his T-shirt a dark, discarded lump on the porch as he mimicked Heero's position. His violet eyes shining as he and Heero shared some long forgotten joke. Both laughing, aware of Quatre, but not of his camera.

The candid shot was one of the only pictures of Heero where he looked genuinely happy. It had always amused Duo, the way his friend hated having his picture taken. But they'd both cherished that picture. Duo's copy was hidden away in a drawer back in his dive of an apartment in Sanc City. He wasn't sure why he'd brought along Heero's.

He stuffed the photo back into his duffel as he felt the familiar void open in his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut, stubbornly refusing to let himself cry. He wasn't going to mourn a man who was still alive… no matter how much he missed him.

_  
__Be careful what you wish for,__  
__'Cause you just might get it all.__  
__You just might get it all,_

He swung out blindly to hit the panel on the wall, ending the song early and plunging the ship into silence as his hand smacked heavily against the com system.

"Heero." He breathed.

Before rolling over and forcing himself to fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 3

Duo settled in quickly on the L5 project. They were a gruff crew and not entirely sure what to make of the long-haired pixie-faced newbie who suddenly showed up in their midst. But a quick brawl in the mess hall earned him both respect and a place on the foreman's personal crew. 2 weeks later, he sat listening while the other men complained over their lunches about the pirate raids.

"They're stealing supplies?" Duo asked raising an eyebrow

"No." a worker named O'Brian shook his balding scar-pocked head "People. They're stealing the fucking people. Anyone who even starts to make a name for themselves gets nabbed."

"There's this pirate," a second mechanic added, Duo had to grind his memory for the guys name, Mac maybe? "Calls himself Shinigami. Fucking Ace, he's the one that makes all their raids successful. We can't get a shot on him."

"The God of Death, huh?" Duo growled, his eyes flashing darkly beneath the heavy fall of his chestnut bangs. "We'll just see about that."

He rose swiftly without finishing his food, the others exchanged nervous glances.

"Kids got the eyes of a killer…" O'Brian shivered, as Duo exited the hall in a blur of braid.

The foreman rose to follow Duo, catching up to him in the hallway.

"Hey, kid. Duo."

Duo turned,

"You alright? You ah… didn't finish your lunch…" he finished lamely

"Sorry. Guess I lost my appetite." Duo flashed him a signature smile

The foreman didn't buy it

"I don't know nothin' 'bout your past Duo, and that's fine. But trust me on this kid, no matter how good you think you are, don't go trying to pick a fight with Shinigami. I've lost too many good men to that blue-eyed devil. Just keep your head low till we can get this job finished and all go home."

"He's got blue eyes?" Duo asked, turning the full intensity of his gaze on the foreman. The larger man shifted uncomfortably "That's what they say."

"What color blue?" Duo pushed

"Wha-what? How the hell should I know what color blue? Really blue I guess. I don't know?! Why does it matter?"

"It ah… it doesn't. Not really."

The foreman eyed him carefully

"I'll see you space-side at 0300 hours sir." Duo whirled and scampered to his quarters.

He threw together his duffel and slipped out to his ship to toss the duffel in. The took off to run a loop around the incomplete station. His radar peeled out a warning and he noted several small fighters lurking at 3 o'clock.

Duo grinned, and sent out a hail.

"I'm looking for the bastard that calls himself Shinigami." He grinned maniacally into the vid-screen.

After several long moments he received a reply. The responder wore a deep crimson scarf wrapped around his hair and face, only a few dark locks managed to poke though, and blue eyes flashed between the folds of fabric. The man's voice was muffled by the scarf and further distorted by the poor connection as he spoke

"I am Shinigami."

"We'll see about that." Duo grinned and fired. The other pilot rolled easily out of the way.

"I'm new here, so you'll have to fill me in. But rumor has it you've been kidnapping my coworkers. Why?"

The other pilot responded with a several shots directed at Duo's left wing. Duo barely managed to duck out of the way. _Shit!_ Duo thought to himself, his mission involved being captured, but he had to make it look like he was putting up a fight, but this guy was good. Too good. If he didn't fight for real, he was going to end up space frag.

* * *

The pirate's pilot grimaced beneath his scarf. He'd recognized the ship immediately.

_What the hell is Duo doing out here!?_ He had to get him a message but couldn't say anything with the others listening in on his conversation, if he switched to a private channel, they'd suspect something was up. Even after three years, they didn't trust him.

He subtly reduced some of the distortion in the feed, cobalt eyes locking with fiery amethyst

"Omae o korosu."

Duo's eyes widened in recognition.

He fired, trusting Duo to take the hit with the minimal amount of damage to their ship.

Duo took the hit just as he'd expected, rolling slightly, but not enough to avoid letting the left engine take a glancing blow, one that would smoke plenty but do no real damage to the ship and leave the secondary engines they'd installed themselves completely intact.

He grinned happy to know Duo was still the ace pilot he'd known 3 years ago.

* * *

Duo's head whirled as he faked unconsciousness for the sake of the pirates still watching the fuzzy feed. His fingers danced beneath the panel, shutting down the alterations he and Heero had added to the ship. When the pirates gave it the once over, it'd just look like an outdated fighter.

He felt his ship shudder as the pirates tow-cables locked on and they began to drag him back with them. His mission would only become increasingly dangerous from here on out but he didn't even think about it.

_Heero's alive._

Nothing else mattered.

* * *

This chapter was a bit rushed. Sorry for it's crappiness.

I wanted to write the chapter AFTER this, so I just sorta threw this out there, maybe I'll come back and rewrite it later. I especially feel that the fight should be longer and more exciting. but like I said, I wasn't really into it.


	5. Chapter 4

Duo was still feigning unconsciousness as he was hauled roughly from the cockpit of his ship and drug down a long dimly lit hallway.

He'd expected to be locked up, he hadn't however, been expecting them to tie him to a chair, and throw cold water in his face to "wake" him up, for an interrogation.

"What's your name?" Demanded a surly balding man (_with god-awful breath_ Duo noted).

"What, can't you read?" Duo scoffed, jerking his chin towards the embroidered patch on the left breast of his coveralls.

"Your name." The man demanded again. A greasy hand gripping Duo's chin, "Or I'll have you screaming your mother's as you curse the day she bore you."

"But Mommy told me real men never scream out loud." Duo smirked

It earned him a right hook to the face.

"Your name." The man demanded again, ripping the patch from his coveralls and tearing the fabric to wear it was belted, exposing a thin line of finely chiseled flesh from Duo's chest to waist.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Duo glared "That is my…"

"It's my name."

Duo felt a surge of relief as Heero stepped into the room, a clear look at those cobalt eyes confirming without a doubt the man's identity. _But what the hell!? He's using my name!?_ Duo wondered.

He'd have to play this carefully, being self-named, his identity was a hard one to track, but it was possible, especially after his capture during the war by Oz. If he played his cards wrong, it wouldn't be his cover he blew, it'd be Heero's.

"Whatever pal. I'm…"

"I'm Duo Maxwell." Heero slammed his hands down on Duo's trapped forearms, his fingers wrapping around the exposed flesh, Duo stiffened as he felt Heero's fingers applying pressure, it was the same code they'd used back in the war when absolute silence was necessary. Three sharp on his left arm, soft-sharp-soft-soft on his right. _O-L…_

"Tell me your real name." Heero hissed, his eyes boring into Duo's between the folds of crimson.

Duo shivered with the contact, willing his face not to flush the color of Heero's scarf. This really wasn't the time for that. He wrenched his eyes away.

"It's an alias… Odin Lowe."

"What would a runt like you need an alias for?" the bad-breathed man growled as Heero stepped away, retreating towards the corner by the door.

"You know, you steal a thing or two here, bum a bit there, looks bad on your resume. Wanted a fresh start." Duo grinned cheekily. He'd grown up with bullies like this, just tell them what they expect to hear without enough detail for them to verify anything. Pretend to cooperate then sit back and let them chase their own tails.

"I don't like this one." A tall, rapier thin woman pushed off the wall she'd been leaning against the entire time and moved towards Duo. Her long black hair was pulled back into a braid that just barely reached the center of her back. "He's too wild. He's not nearly afraid enough. I smell a rat."

"Really, all I smell is ugly here's breath." Duo chirped, sending her a million watt smile. Heero grinned behind his scarf. He'd missed that smile. But his smile vanished as he watched her grab Duo's braid.

"This must have taken a long time to grow." She purred "I'd say it's about time for a trim."

Duo forced himself to shrug nonchalantly "Yeah, I been meaning to do that for a while now. Just never found the time."

But she hadn't missed the fear that flashed through his eyes, or the way his smile had faltered. She slipped out a knife hidden in her boot, slicing through the hair tie and releasing the chestnut waves.

Heero was beside her in an instant, Duo's braid curled around his wrist, her blade caught between his first and second fingers.

"What's wrong Mishka? Jealous?" he chided

"As if, Maxwell!" she growled

Heero laughed icily "leave it to a woman to get all worked up over hair."

Mishka quivered

"Damn you Maxwell. Let him keep the braid. See if I care."

"Don't you though?" Heero pushed

"I'm done with this. Are you coming Boris? Let Duo deal with this brat."

"Aye. Better make him talk Maxwell."

Heero nodded

"Of course."

They waited until the door slid closed

"Heer…"

Heero's hand clamped down on Duo's forearm again, silent communication passing between them. _They're still watching._

"We go again." Duo covered, "So you're the god of Death."

Heero uncoiled Duo's braid from his wrist, the loosened strands falling over the captives arm as Heero slipped Mishka's small knife under Duo's covered palm.

"You don't seem that impressive to me" Duo continued talking to cover the silent message Heero's fingers pressed against his forearm. _Status? _

"God of death" Duo scoffed "Nothin' I can't handle. My old lady's scarier than you."

_Une sent you._

"You're just some freak in a scarf. My old lady, fuck, she's like the fucking devil, always on my case about getting a real job. I wouldn't even have come out to L5 'cept I was trying to get away from that old bitch's nagging."

"What makes you think I want to hear your life story?" Heero growled

_Deathwing's status?_

"Didn't your friend say you wanted me to talk? Well, I'm talking. You oughta be grateful I'm talking to you at all you bastard. After you blasted my left engine like that. Asshole. Thing's gonna take me weeks to repair."

Heero grinned behind his scarf.

_Be ready to move in 48 hours. _

"What makes you think you'll be getting it back."

"Aw c'mon man! You can't keep me here forever! Besides, don't'cha' wanna rematch! I almost had you."

"Don't get cocky. I'd have killed you if that fight had drug on much longer."

"Don't be so sure." Duo glared defiantly "I'm the best pilot there's ever been. You just got a lucky shot on me, that's all."

_48 hours._

"I kill crazy people." Heero growled, snapping Duo's restraints and bodily hauling him up. "You can go rot with the rest of the 'volunteers'."

Heero didn't see where Duo hid the knife, Duo's slight of hand abilities had always impressed him.

"Yeah whatever man." Duo growled as he was shoved along the hallway, his arm twisted up just short of painfully behind his back. "I'll bust out of here in two days tops. Just watch me."

"Don't count on it." Heero growled

"I never lie." Duo smirked behind the fall of his hair, Heero did the same behind his scarf.

Just before they reached the spare hanger Duo pretended to trip, Heero whirled him and slammed him roughly up against the wall. The curtain of Duo's hair kept his face hidden from the camera on the opposite side of the hallway.

"I'm surprised Heero, you really turn up in the most unexpected places." He whispered

"Really." Heero breathed into Duo's ear, pushing him towards the door again "I was counting on you from the beginning." Heero gave Duo a final shove and the door slid shut between them. The electronic lock beeped once and Duo was left standing staring at the reinforced panel, his heart beating a staccato in his chest, as he listened to Heero's footsteps moving away.

* * *

I had fun using quotes (or variations of quotes) from the series in this chapter! I have like 3 papers due by the end of this week, so I probably won't get to post again before then, and I'm going to visit a friend over the weekend, but then it's spring break, so hopefully I'll have a new chapter up sometime early next week! I REALLY need to get this story out of my system! It's eating up all my concentration!


	6. Chapter 5

Duo stood staring at the door, waiting for his heart to slow. Heero'd been so close just then, his chest pressed against Duo's, his breath in his ear. '_I was counting on you from the beginning.'_ What beginning? Three years ago? Had Heero spent the last three years waiting for him to show up?

Duo groaned inwardly at the fluttering in his stomach, in three years, nothing had changed at all. He was still desperately in love with his best friend.

_Get a grip on yourself Maxwell! You can't be going all gooey! You have to break out of here and get a message back to Une!_

Une… She'd known. All this time, she'd known Heero was alive, she'd known he was in constant danger and she'd just let him rot there. _I'm going to throttle that bitch first thing when I get back._ Duo whipped around and almost smacked into a large man who'd come up behind him.

"Easy there kid." Duo looked up, and reeled back a step into the door

"Foreman!?"

"Foreman?" The man looked puzzled "You must mean my little brother! He made it all the way to foreman did he? Well good for him! How's the construction going on L5?"

"Slowly." Duo grinned, trying to filter information into place "All the help keeps disappearing."

"Tell me about it." '_Foreman's Brother'_ said "They keep showing up here. But I don't remember you."

"I'm new. Or uh… I was?"

The bigger man laughed, "I like you kid. Bet my brother did too."

"We got on alright." Duo shrugged

"Yeah. I believe that. I'm Conner."

"Du-err-… Call me Odin."

Conner raised an eyebrow

"Forget your name there Odin?"

"Took a jab to the head." Duo grinned

"Yeah, I can see that." Conner poked gently at the swelling around Duo's eye, "Hate to say it but we're fresh outta ice. She'll be swollen shut by morning I bet."

"Great, just what I need." Duo growled.

Conner led Duo to begin introductions to the other captives, name after name Duo didn't even bother trying to memorize. Finally, Conner seemed to notice Duo swaying slightly, and found him a place to sit awhile.

It'd been barely fifteen minutes when the door slid open, Duo jumped to his feet, dropping into a defensive stance as Boris stepped through, the raven haired woman, Mishka on his heels.

_Not these clowns again. Well, my hands aren't tied this time._ He carefully noted the automatics both were carrying.

Duo almost moved to attack, but hesitated when Heero stepped through the door. Followed by a tall thin man with graying hair and carefully trimmed beard. Intelligent eyes shone beneath dark eyebrows.

"This is the one?"

"Affirmative." Heero moved towards Duo, Duo made a show of flinching away, keeping his eyes trained warily on the guns Mishka and Boris were toting. "Ice." Heero said coldly, "You're no good to me half blind."

"I don't need…" Duo was cut off by Heero's fist connecting with his jaw. His head snapped backwards and he saw stars. _He could have held back a little!_

"I don't need your mouth in working order." Heero snapped, one hand closing over Duo's bicep "Just your eyes. Ice." He shoved the ice pack at Duo again, who caught his wrist glaring silently.

_You could have pulled your punch you bastard._

_I did._

_What the fuck man!? My head's spinning._

_But your jaw's not broken, is it._

Duo took the ice pack and ripped his arm free of Heero's grasp.

Heero grimaced inwardly at the blood trickling from Duo's lip. He'd apologize later.

The grey haired man smirked

"Get him cleaned up Maxwell. We'll test his skills against yours after he's rested. Boris, Mishka, with me."

Mishka threw Duo a frosty glare before turning on her heel and huffing out. Duo reached out, snagging her hair tie as her braid flipped past his face. Heero grinned, knowing he was the only one who'd seen him do it.

"Cheeky." Heero snorted

Duo pretended not to notice as he quickly pulled his hair back into a ponytail and let himself be led 'roughly' from the room. Heero led him through several corridors, counting on Duo to notice every access panel, camera placement, and security station as they went, before finally arriving at Heero's quarters.

"Nice dump." Duo smirked as Heero squeezed his arm

_We're watched here too._

Duo let his eyes wander the room, spotting the camera in the top right corner of the room.

"Sleep." Heero said as the door slid shut behind them, an electronic lock beeped once.

"Don't gotta tell me twice." Duo yawned and flopped onto the cot drawing the sheet up over him. He could hear the sound of Heero unwrapping the scarf from his head, the soft rustle of it being placed on the table beside the cot. He knew without looking that Heero had angled himself to keep his face hidden from the camera.

He stiffened as he felt Heero's weight dip the flimsy mattress, and sat upright with a shot

"Hey now pal!"

"I need sleep as well. Lie back down." Heero growled

Duo glared uneasily at him, lying back down so that he faced Heero, he wrenched the sheet back up to his chin. He couldn't tear his eyes from Heero's face. He looked the same, gorgeous as ever, that impossible hair sticking up at every angle despite having been smothered by a scarf all day. Impossibly blue eyes staring out from perfectly chiseled features. A five o'clock shadow lurked over Heero's lip and around his chin. Well, _that_ was new. Heero'd always been rigorously clean shaven.

Heero's hand found his, fingers pressing lightly into his palm. Duo beat him to the punch.

_You need a shave._

_Inconsequential. Dubei knows something's up._

_That the old guy?_

_Affirmative._

_I had a feeling this was too easy. What's your plan?_

_The weapons systems will be online in two days. We'll take it out the main cannon with Deathwing, than Une can handle the rest._

_She told us you were dead._

_What?_

_Had a funeral and everything._

_Relena?_

Duo felt his heart constrict.

Here he was, trapped on an enemy's ship, lying in bed with the man he'd been in love with for years, and said man was asking about a woman.

But… He couldn't really blame him. Relena was everything he wasn't, even _he_ admired the girl. She had the guts to fight a war with words alone, and the courage to chase after a man who shoved a gun in her face. Hell, she'd even told said gunman she loved him. Something he'd never had the courage to even attempt.

But regardless of the grudging affection he held for Relena, it didn't lessen the pain throbbing in his chest.

_She took it pretty hard. She was the one who demanded the funeral, despite the lack of your body. They buried an empty casket, marble headstone I imagine. You know Relena. _

_You imagine? You didn't go?_

_No._

_You blew off my funeral?_

_You aren't dead!_

_You didn't know that._

_I did know it. I'm the God of Death remember? The only one with enough skill to kill YOU is ME. _

Heero threw a smile at Duo, who was still scowling suspiciously for the camera's sake, though it didn't reach his eyes. But something else danced in the expressive amethyst… pain?

_Status?_

_You punched me in the face! What do you think my status is?_

_I apologize. You were being… uncooperative._

_Woulda been a little weird if I hadn't_

_Acknowledged. But that wasn't what I meant_

_I'm fine. Bit tired. We should sleep._

Heero watched Duo close his eyes, hiding whatever secrets he might have gleaned from them.

* * *

Gyah! I have GOT to get my homework done!


	7. Chapter 6

Heero came awake slowly, eyes opening halfway, enjoying the warmth pressed against his chest.

Duo muttered something inarticulate and shifted. A flyaway wisp of chestnut hair tickling Heero's cheek as the fey boy beside him snuggled deeper against his chest.

Heero's eyes fluttered closed, and his chin turned downward, his nose nuzzling into Duo's hair. It was then he realized how closely pressed he was lying with the American.

Heero jerked away with a start and tumbled from the cot turning quickly away from the camera, practiced hands wrapping the scarf over his hair and face. Duo blinked at him groggily, his injured eye swollen, but open.

"It appears your vision will not be completely impeded." Heero barked quickly before Duo could say something stupid like "Morning 'Ro."

His heart ached a little. He'd missed that greeting. No matter where they'd been, Duo's "good morning's" had always given him a sense of _home_.

Duo snapped to full alertness, his "Morning 'Ro" died on his lips. Instead he just stared down at his hands and prodded gingerly at his swollen eye. Then started fighting with his tangled mass of hair, for a moment Heero regretted not owning a brush, or at least a comb as Duo struggled to return his hair to some semblance of his signature braid.

"Got any more ice?"

"It's a possibility." Heero said moving towards the door. Duo rose and followed him.

They met Dubei, Boris and Mishka in the hallway.

The old man led them wordlessly to the hangar. Duo was presented with Deathwing, Heero moved towards his own fighter.

"What's all this about?" Duo growled as he was shuffled toward his ship.

"You said you wanted a rematch." Heero scoffed

"You really want me to kill this guy?" Duo asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow at Dubei as he swung a hand carelessly in Heero's direction.

"You'll be firing low-impact lazers." Dubei explained patiently "Blanks, if you will. I will be observing."

"Whatever man." Duo said, climbing into his cockpit. "How do you know I won't just pull a runner?"

Dubei smiled "I've already taken that into consideration Mr. Lowe, stray too far from Fortress Barge , and you'll trigger the explosive planted on your ship.."

"Great." Duo muttered as he slid into his cockpit.

A few moments later he and Heero had fired into space.

Heero immediately threw a shot across his nose

"Asshole." Duo muttered and returned fire.

Neither of them went for a kill shot, spending the next few minutes playing chicken and rolling out of the others range.

"I think that's enough playing around gentleman." Dubei's voice crackled over the intercom.

"We were just getting warmed up." Duo grinned

Heero's eyes narrowed, Fortress Barge's main canon was moving… _It shouldn't be online for another 36 hours._

"This little exercise has certainly been enjoyable." Dubei smiled, "But I'm afraid I've little patience for games, and even less for space rats…"

"The cannon!" Heero screamed over the com. Duo barely managed to roll out of the line of fire.

Heero breathed a sigh of relief as the beam faded and both their ships remained intact.

"You noticed. I'm impressed 'Maxwell'. Or should I say Preventer's Agent, first class- Heero Yuy."

Heero growled, "When did you know."

"I didn't." The old man shrugged nonchalantly "Not at first anyway. But you can thank your pretty little blonde friend for posting a few too many pictures of you on the airwaves. Especially after your untimely death. And as for Agent Maxwell, well, he's certainly a phantom as far the records are concerned. But two Duo Maxwell's showing up on my ship? You must think me an idiot not to dig into something like that."

Heero growled something unintelligible before muttering a curse in Japanese and firing a few rounds at the apparently functional Fortress Barge.

"I'm afraid those will amount to little Agent Yuy." Dubei smiled, "I wasn't kidding when I said your firepower had been reduced. You'd have to reset them to full power manually. An impossible task while trying to avoid Fortress Barge's cannons, I'm afraid."

Heero's mind raced, Dubei was right, trying to reset the fighters' guns to full power involved leaving the cockpit to manually adjust them. That meant no one to steer while they were fired upon by Fortress Barge. Unless…

"Duo." Heero growled into the comm.

"No. No Heero." Duo's violet eyes were wide and he shook his head vigorously "There's a better way! I can still fire! Don't even think about it! No Heero! DON'T!!"

Duo's fighter was already racing towards Heero's as the latter ejected from his fighter. Fortress Barge's cannon began glowing to life again. Heero watched as the Deathing's cargo door swung open, catching Heero as Duo completed his roll to get Deathwing out of Barge's line of fire. Heero hit the inside of the bay hard enough it knocked the wind from him. Duo must have heard his gasp

"'RO!? You alright?"

"Affirmative" Heero gritted out, climbing out of the bay and removing his helmet before moving to the gunner station below the cockpit. His fingers flew across the keys. He knew Duo was moving similarly as he felt Deathwing's 3rd and 4th engines churning to life.

"I thought you said this thing wasn't supposed to be online for another 36 hours?" Duo called down.

"It wasn't. I planted a virus in the programming that should have taken them at least two days to figure out."

"Great, now they've got some computer genius." Duo muttered, shaking his head.

"Full power restored to weapons systems." Heero called

"Roger that 01." Duo grinned taking the ship in for a close sweep to allow Heero to blast the hell out of the main canon. The ace gunner buckled Barge's shielding with two precision hits, the third one decimating the weapons infrastructure.

Duo whooped in celebration as the canon collapsed in on itself, and veered the fighter away to avoid the shockwave.

Heero heard a high pitched beeping and turned to yell before the explosion knocked him to the floor. The door to the gunner area slid shut, sealing out the breach that had taken place above him.

"Duo!" Heero screamed, punching in the codes to override the locking mechanism. "Duo!"

The long-haired pilot lay sprawled across the console. His chair had shrapnalized into his back. A small piece of metal had imbedded itself in the glass and the fracturing of the ships structural integrity had triggered they alarms, despite air still being present in the room.

Heero gathered Duo's bleeding form in his arms and headed for the galley, sealing the room behind him. The vid cam was blinking. Heero flipped it on.

"Duo, we are in position…" Wufei blinked at the screen "Heero!?"

"02's been injured. Requesting immediate assistance." Heero barked

"ETA 10 minutes. Heero what the hell's going on?!"

* * *

I'd planned on dragging this chappie out a bit longer, but I have to go to the dentist... BLEGH!

Thanks for reading everyone!


	8. Chapter 7

1 week later…

Heero sat at Duo's bedside. Quatre dozed lightly beside him. The blonde arab had been almost as insistent as Heero had that he wouldn't be leaving Duo's side till the latter was in stable condition.

Thanks to the conditioning they'd all received from the mad 5, there wasn't a sedative in the galaxy that could keep any of them out for more than a few hours. At Sally's insistence, Heero'd finally acquiesced to the induced coma Duo now lay in. _It'll help him heal._ She'd promised. Heero wasn't so sure.

It was ripping him apart inside to see Duo laying there like that; pale, unmoving, so tiny and fragile looking against the stark hospital sheets. He reached out for what must have been the hundredth time to brush a finger against Duo's unmoving hand. His eyes lit when the former Deathscythe pilot's hand twitched at the contact, but Duo remained unconscious. The beep of the heart monitor continued it's mostly metronomic pace, though the occasional off-beat staccato would still set ice in Heero's stomach.

The bomb they'd learned, had been in the back of Duo's chair, a small explosion intended to kill the pilot without doing excessive damage to the ship itself. Only the devils luck had kept the shrapnel from slicing through Duo's spinal cord. But both his kidneys had taken damage and the second and third degree burns up and down his back had sent him into shock. Heero smiled grimly and reached up to run his fingers over Duo's braid. Again, only the devil's luck had seen the braid draped over the front of Duo's shoulder, sparing it from the searing heat that had almost stolen its wearers life.

Heero sighed and sat back in his chair. Beside him, Quatre continued to doze. Wufei slipped in several minutes later, taking the empty chair on the far side of Quatre.

"You should go home and rest Yuy."

"I'll leave when Duo does."

"That'll be at least another 2 weeks."

"Then I'll leave in 2 weeks."

"Spare me." Wufei snorted, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "You'll smell awful by then."

Heero smiled grimly,

"If you won't leave," the Chinese man pounced "then would you care to tell me how you managed to come back from the grave after 3 years."

"I was never IN the grave. Une made that up. I was unaware."

"I understand, but 3 years Yuy… you never contacted any of us. Not him," he inclined his head towards Duo, "not her…" he let his voice trail off.

Heero's scowl deepened and he sank further into his chair.

"She's heard the rumors, all unconfirmed of course, none of us is talking and she knows better than to push us too far with Duo in his current… condition. But, she's been asking after you."

Heero sighed and let his head drop to his hands. He wasn't equipped to deal with her right now. Not right now. And she'd be the hardest to explain things to. Duo was a soldier, he'd understand, but Relena… she'd feel hurt and betrayed, and after 3 years of silence, 3 years of thinking he was dead… What was he supposed to say to her?

Wufei cut in on his thoughts "You can't avoid her forever you know."

"I'm not avoiding." Heero snapped "I'm just... not confronting."

Wufei snorted "That sounds like something Maxwell would say."

They both fell into silence. Between them, Quatre continued to softly snore.

1 week later…

Heero stood in the lobby, freshly showered, shaved and for the first time in days, wearing clean clothes. Relena bustled in, her pink shoes clicking on the tiled floor. _Just lunch _he'd finally agreed. _Just lunch. _Tears sprang to her eyes when she saw him, but she maintained her composure and didn't sprint across the room to greet him, though she did throw her arms around him the instant he was in reach.

"Heero…" she breathed, her face buried in his chest

"Relena."

"I'd heard rumors… but… you're back. You're alive…" she was crying now, not blubbering, but the tears still rolled down her cheeks, smudging her make-up. "Duo was right." She sniffed, "How is he? May I see him?"

Heero nodded once, and disentangled himself from the girl, leading her towards Duo's room. He stopped in front of the door, staring through the window, blocking Relena's view. Suddenly, he didn't want her in there. Duo wouldn't like having her see him in that condition.

"The nurse is with him right now. We shouldn't bother them." Heero said stiffly, turning to grab Relena's arm and steer her gently back the way they had come.

Lunch went quietly, Relena wept through most of it. Heero felt guilty, and found himself promising things perhaps he shouldn't have. Though he adamantly refused to leave the Hospital grounds while Duo remained. Eventually, Relena gave up on trying to convince him to take a breather at the palace, it was only a 20 minute drive from the hospital, and the beds were more comfortable, but the perfect soldiers blue eyes were steely, and his mind was set. She sighed in a mix of sympathy and frustration.

Duo's mind was fuzzy and everything hurt with a dull stinging. Like he was lying on a bed of needles. His eyes slowly blinked open, it was hard, they were all crusted, and his mouth felt like he'd been sucking on cotton balls for months. Quatre was beside him reading a business magazine. Duo coughed lightly, the blonde sprang to his feet.

"Duo!" he seemed startled "You were supposed to be asleep for another week!"

Duo tried to respond, but found his throat too dry, Quatre quickly offered him his bottle of water. After a few grateful gulps Duo's voice returned.

"What do you mean 'supposed to be asleep for another week'?" he growled

"They said… after they induced the coma that…."

"Induced…. coma?" Duo swallowed hard, feeling his self control break down as anxiety started to swamp him. Quatre felt it immediately, his arms flew around Duo's neck, cradling the injured pilot against his chest.

"It was just to help you heal. Sally's been in charge of your care the entire time. We knew you wouldn't want anyone else."

Sally's name soothed him slightly, but he continued to tremble

"Where's… where's Heero?" he asked finally

Quatre brightened, "He went to lunch with Relena. She's been asking after him since the two of you got back." Quatre trembled slightly with the pain that suddenly rolled off Duo "Duo!? Are you alright!?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine." Duo forced a grin and pulled himself away from Quatre, the empath felt far too much when they were in contact.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon." Quatre said lamely

"It's fine dude. She missed him more than anyone." Duo grinned again

"I wonder about that." Quatre said quietly, glancing towards the door. Duo wanted to be alone and he knew it. "Would you like me to smuggle you in some real food?" he asked, looking for a graceful way to give Duo his space.

"Yeah, thanks Q-man."

"Any preferences?"

"Anything fried." Duo grinned, Quatre nodded and scurried from the room.

Relena remained firmly clamped on Heero's arm as he re-entered the hospital. He met Quatre on the way out.

"Duo's awake." Quatre chirped as he scurried towards the door.

Relena scrambled after him but lost him around a corner and in a frustrated huff hurried back to the front entrance to hunt down Quatre.

Heero dashed down the hallways, flying into Duo's room.

"Duo!" he shouted as he slammed through the door. Duo glanced up guiltily from where he was testing the lock on the window.

"Mornin' 'Ro…" he smiled sheepishly, sliding carefully back towards the pillows

Heero's grin sparkled, making Duo's breath hitch, he masked it by sniffing.

"What'cha' got there?" he grinned towards the Styrofoam takeout box in Heero's hand.

"Onion rings…." Heero admitted shyly, "I know they're your favorite… err a- at least they used to be…"

"Still are! They still are!" Duo's arms stretched for the box being held just beyond his reach.

"Brought them back for you… just in case."

"Yeah, Quatre said I'm a week early."

Heero shrugged and smiled as he handed over the box "You never were good at taking it easy."

"Speak for yourself 'Ro." He grinned and made a show of enjoying his onion rings. "Still warm and everything! You're the best man! Only don't tell Quatre, I sent him after something fried too."

"It's alright." Quatre said from the doorway, "I was curtailed by someone needing an escort."

Relena flounced into the room.


End file.
